SEPTEMBER 2014 - Notice Board

Private health Insurance from your local chemist

For the first time, now you can speak to the people you trust most for your health and wellbeing about your health insurance too! Compare your health insurance   today with COVAD!

Why choose COVAD?

ü Quickly compare your private health insurance premiums and options

ü Access to one of the largest range of health insurance  providers

ü Pick and choose the cover  you want

ü Available online and through your local pharmacy COVAD agents

Need more information or advice?

Calanna Pharmacy is your local COVAD agent.

Or visit: www.covad.com.au

Calanna Odourless Fish Oil 400’s | $ 31.95*

Benefits of taking Fish Oil include:

• Great source of Omega 3 & 6 essential fatty acids
• Anti-inflammatory properties that can help with joint ache & pain
• Depression - some research indicates diets higher in omega 3’s show lower rates of depression
• Asthma - Omega 3’s help lower inflammation of  airway
• ADHD - some studies show reduced symptoms of ADHD and improved mental skills
• Assist muscle protein formation
• May help ê bad Cholesterol & increase good cholesterol levels

Calanna CoEnzyme Q 10 - 30 caps | $26.95

In addition to its  energy-producing role, CoQ10 has antioxidant actions, acting to protect cells from the damaging effects of free radicals.

It is thought that in some  disease states, CoQ10 levels may become depleted.  In terms of heart health, taking CoQ10 supplements has been shown to:

• Improve heart functioning in patients with heart   failure
• Lower blood pressure in patients with hypertension (high blood pressure).

The body is able to make CoQ10, but it is also found in the following foods:

• Soybeans
• Mackerel and sardines
• Cabbage, spinach, potato, onion and carrot
• Hazelnuts and pistachios

How do you know which Nutritional upplements you should be taking?

Each year, people just like you spend a great deal of money on nutritional supplements. Most people however do not seek any kind of independent assessment of what it is they really need. And it’s important to recognise that each person’s requirements can be different. NutriCheck has been developed over 20 years of practice and research into helping individuals realise their optimal health through good nutrition.

Pick up your free NutriCheck at Calanna Pharmacy today or
fill it out online at:  www.calannapharmacy.com.au

Major Competition coming up Next Month! 

So make sure you use your Rewards Card and keep earning

instant rewards dollars!

You've got to use it, to WIN it!

Stay Tuned.....

SEPTEMBER 2014 - Words of Wisdom "Volunteering"

This month I wish to acknowledge the noble art of Volunteering.                Volunteering means “freely offering to do something”.  It is a way of freely giving your time to help, to support, to mentor, to build – a better society and a better YOU.

The phrase “it is in giving that you receive” is still true today and will always be so. Giving implies a selfless act to improve someone else’s life or situation.

I believe Volunteering is a form of Servant Leadership. Leadership relates to          helping people (and yourself) grow bigger and to become more than you are – today. It is an act that involves many others who are also prepared to give of their time and talents to lift the moral values of society.

“Character is doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do – whether the whole world is watching or no one ever knows”

…Colin Pearce

For Volunteering to be noble and centred on others – there is a need to be:

1) Humble – to place others’ needs before yours. To look outside yourself and empathise with others. To be Humble is to know  yourself, to be confident in yourself so that you can open up to give to others.

2) Compassionate – to understand, to alleviate, to sympathise with the plight of others without compromising the valued traditional norms our  society  requires. It is helping a “Victim” to be become a “Hero” in their life.

3) Generous

4) Grateful and thankful

I believe a wholesome society is built on giving to others – without the expectation for any personal return. I am blessed every day by the people who help me. The gratitude I feel as a result spurs me to continue to be more involved with them.

Our attitude and our associations will determine the richness of our lives. It has become very easy to be a VICTIM and expect others to help more and more. To be a HERO is - to build your own life, to become more self-sufficient and to mentor and encourage others to do the same.

I believe that Volunteering with no expectation of personal return - is a sure way of building a better ME and a better society.

Take Care…………….Mario

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SEPTEMBER 2014 - Have you had your Blood Pressure Tested?

What is Blood Pressure?

Blood pressure is the pressure of blood in the arteries and veins as it is pumped around the body by the heart.  Blood pressure records 2 numbers, the first is the pressure of blood in the arteries as the heart pumps blood out to the body, the second is the pressure of the blood in the veins as blood returns to the heart.  A normal blood pressure reading is roughly 120/80mmHg.

When can Blood Pressure cause health problems?

Both low and high blood pressure can cause health issues. Most commonly high blood pressure is one of the      major contributing factors to heart disease, kidney disease, stroke and heart attack.  High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is usually defined as a blood pressure reading of 140/90mmHg or above.

What is your Blood Pressure?

Do you know what your blood pressure is?  If not, it is an important number to know.  As mentioned, higher levels of blood pressure, are associated with increased risks of cardiovascular disease, stroke and other cardiovascular events which can be life threatening.  Raised blood pressure can usually go unnoticed as hypertension produces very few symptoms - this is why it is important to have your blood pressure tested regularly.

For the Month of September,

Calanna Pharmacy is offering FREE

Blood Pressure Testing & Recording - Call in today!

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SEPTEMBER 2014 - Oils Ain't Oils

Essential fatty acids (EFA’s) are substances our body needs because we do not produce them internally - so we have to get them through our diet. These are the omega 6 fatty acids and the omega 3 fatty acids.

When the two families of EFAs were discovered in 1923, they were called "vitamin F", but in 1929 they were classified as fats rather than vitamins. Several recent studies have shown that the diet of our ancestors was lower in calories, higher in fibre and rich in fruits, vegetables, lean meat, and fish. The resulting diet was not only lower in total fats, but it also contained equal amounts of the essential fatty acids, omega-6 and omega-3, roughly speaking a 1 to 1 ratio.

In today’s Western diet, this ratio is about 15 to 1! And that is a problem. These two types of fatty acids have opposing functions in the body, and their balance is important for normal function and development, including gene expression and cell-to-cell communication.

The omega-6 fatty acids promote inflammatory processes, necessary for our immune system and for repairing the body. The omega-3’s are both anti-inflammatory and essential for the normal functional development of the retina and brain, particularly in premature infants.

Excessive amounts of omega-6 fatty acids and a very high omega-6 to omega-3 ratio in the diet promotes inflammation pathways. While this is necessary in the short term - such as repairing damaged tissue - it is a disaster in the long term; in other words, chronic inflammation.

Many diseases are based in a chronic inflammation background. For instance, Cardiovascular Disease (once understood as a disease of fatty accumulation on the blood vessel walls) is now regarded as an inflammatory disease. The blood vessels walls are very smooth, obviously to resist the adhesion of passing blood cells. A fatty coating on the blood vessels, however, allows white blood cells, whose role is to produce inflammation, to adhere  to the artery walls.

The anti-inflammatory effect of the omega-3’s, (and a good omega 6 to 3 ratio) combined with their ability to scavenge free radicals, gives rise to a range of health benefits within the cardiovascular system. Through increasing good fat metabolism - they clean arteries and lower blood pressure - by stabilizing the membrane of the heart, and reducing ventricular fibrillation.

Illnesses like Asthma, Allergy and eczema are all caused by an imbalance in the immune system, which leads to inflammation in the lungs or skin.

In autoimmune diseases - the immune system targets and attacks particular body parts. For example, in Rheumatoid Arthritis, the joints are targeted and become inflamed, resulting in pain, swelling and stiffness. A daily dose of 6.7 – 7 grams per day helps joint pain and stiffness by suppressing inflammation in the spinal cord. Increased levels of omega-3s and a low omega-6/omega-3 ratio is a safe and nutritious way to decrease inflammation in these instances.

Because omega-6s are already over represented in the average diet, and also due to the anti-inflammatory properties of omega-3s, most  EFA products are based around the omega-3s.

The vegetarian products are generally sourced from the seeds of plants such as flax and chia. The advantage of these is that they are probably a cleaner source, and don’t involve any harm to animals. However, they are not as effective as the marine forms of omega 3’s.

Marine oils, such as those derived from fish and krill, already contain the omega-3s, so no conversion necessary.

But which ones to use? The following is a rough guide to nutrients to improve fat metabolism:

1.        High total cholesterol, LDLs and triglycerides: Fish Oils (plus Bioflavonoids (Rutin, Hesperidin and  Quercitin) and Vitamin E.                                                                                                

2.        Low HDLs  and high LDLs                                      - Fish and Krill Oil

3.        Raised Triglycerides and low HDLs                      - Fish Oil (EPA/DHA)

Generally speaking, the Vitamins E, C and B Complex, plus Choline, Methionine, Inositol and Taurine will also help to promote healthy fat metabolism.

Besides those mentioned above, dietary sources of the EFA’s are pumpkin and sunflower seeds, walnuts and canola, soy and olive oils. These foods are high in calories because of their fat content. Eating them makes the body switch to fat burning cellular metabolism – this burns fats for energy, provides sustained energy and hence reduces food cravings.

Carbohydrate foods do the opposite. They increase the use of carbohydrate burning pathways in the body’s cells. But because these foods are lower in calories, this energy is used more quickly. Since the carbohydrate burning machinery has been switched on, sugar cravings result.

So increasing the omega 3s tends to be a good idea all round.

Written by:   Miguel Trapaga |B.HSc; M.App.Sc